Australia's estimated resident population (ERP) reached 21.4 million at 30 June 2008, increasing by 359,300 people since 30 June 2007. The 2007-08 growth rate of 1.7% was higher than the average annual growth rate of 1.5% for the five years to June 2008.

All states and territories experienced population growth in 2007-08 with the largest population increases continuing to be recorded in Australia's three most populous states. Queensland experienced the greatest growth (up by 97,900 people), followed by Victoria (92,500) and New South Wales (79,200).

For the second year in a row, Western Australia recorded the fastest population growth rate, which was 2.8% in 2007-08, ahead of Queensland and the Northern Territory (both 2.3%) and Victoria (1.8%). The remaining states and territories had population growth rates below the Australian average, with Tasmania experiencing the slowest growth at 0.9%.

In each state and territory, population growth generally continued to be most prominent in inner city areas, outer suburbs, some urban infill areas and along the coast; while populations declined in some inland, rural areas, especially those that have been affected by drought in the last few years.

SLA POPULATION CHANGE, Australia - 2007-08

The following commentary refers mainly to population changes in Local Government Areas (LGAs), however in some cases selected Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) are referred to, particularly where LGAs cover multiple SLAs, such as in Brisbane (C), or don't exist, such as in the Australian Capital Territory.

The Sydney Statistical Division (SD) grew by 55,000 people in 2007-08 to 4.4 million people.

Outside of the Sydney SD, the fastest growth rates in 2007-08 were along the NSW coast in the Richmond-Tweed (1.6%), Mid North Coast (1.2%), Hunter and South Eastern (both 1.1%) SDs.

Victoria

Melbourne SD's growth of 74,600 people was the largest of all the Australian capital city SDs in 2007-08

The LGA of Wyndham (C), located on the western suburban fringe of Melbourne SD, experienced the largest and fastest growth (8,900 people or 7.2%) of all Victorian LGAs.

The fastest population growth outside of the Melbourne SD continued to occur in coastal areas including the LGAs of Surf Coast (S) (3.6%) and Bass Coast (S) (2.3%).

Queensland

The three most populous LGAs in Australia - Brisbane (C), Gold Coast (C) and Moreton Bay (R) - also recorded the largest increases in population in the year to June 2008. The population of Brisbane (C) increased by 17,400 people (1.7%), the Gold Coast (C) by 13,200 people (2.7%), and Moreton Bay (R) by 11,800 people (3.4%).

Outside of south-east Queensland, the LGA of Cairns (R) had the largest and fastest population growth in the year to June 2008, with an increase of 6,000 people (3.9%).

South Australia

Victor Harbor (C), on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula, and Mount Barker (DC), in the Mt Lofty Ranges east of Adelaide, were the two fastest-growing LGAs in the state, increasing by 3.5% and 2.9% respectively.

During 2007-08 the two LGAs with the largest population growth in the state were in the northern suburbs of the Adelaide SD. Salisbury (C) grew the most (2,400 people), followed by neighbouring Playford (C), which increased by 2,000 people.

Western Australia

Western Australia's population growth was the nation's fastest and the state's share of the national population is now over 10%.

Three-quarters of the state's population growth occurred in the Perth SD, which grew by more than 800 people each week, on average, in the year to June 2008.

Over one-third of Western Australia's LGAs outside of the Perth metropolitan area had declining populations.

Tasmania

Tasmania's estimated resident population grew by 0.9% in 2007-08, which was an increase on the 0.7% change in each of the previous three years, but the slowest growth rate of any state or territory.

Sorell (M) (2.8%) and Brighton (M) (2.5%) were the fastest-growing LGAs in Tasmania. The largest growth occurred in Kingborough (M) (630 people) and Launceston (C) (400).

Northern Territory

Northern Territory's growth of 5,000 people in 2007-08 was its largest since 1996-97.

Palmerston (C) had the fastest population growth (5.5%) of all Northern Territory LGAs in 2007-08.

At 30 June 2008, almost 13.7 million people, close to two-thirds of Australia's population, resided in a capital city Statistical Division (SD). The combined population of capital city SDs increased by 239,200 in the 12 months to June 2008.

In 2007-08, Melbourne SD recorded the largest growth of all capital city SDs, increasing by 74,600 people, followed by Sydney SD (55,000), Brisbane SD and Perth SD (both up by 43,400). The population growth in Melbourne SD equated to an average increase of over 1,400 people per week, while the population of Sydney SD increased by over 1,000 people per week.

Population growth in Australia's capital city SDs occurred at an average rate of 1.8% in 2007-08, slightly faster than that in the remainder of Australia (1.6%). Darwin SD and Perth SD, were the fastest growing capital city SDs, both recording population growth at a rate of 2.8% in 2007-08, followed by Brisbane SD (2.3%) and Melbourne SD (2.0%). The Greater Hobart SD had the lowest growth rate at 0.9%.

The growth rates experienced in all capital city SDs for 2007-08 were higher than their average annual growth rates over the five years to June 2008.

The LGAs with the largest and fastest population increases in Australia in 2007-08 were both inner-city LGAs. The largest increase (17,400 people) occurred in Brisbane (C), Australia's most populous capital city LGA. Perth (C) was Australia's fastest-growing LGA, increasing in population from 13,600 to 15,100, an annual growth rate of 10.8%. This is the fifth consecutive year in which Perth (C) has been the fastest-growing capital city LGA.

The 2007-08 growth rates in all capital city LGAs were lower than their average annual growth rates over the five years to June 2008. Particularly in Melbourne (C), with a 2007-08 growth rate of 4.1%, Adelaide (C) (2.7%) and Sydney (C) (1.5%), construction of multistorey apartment buildings had led to higher rates of population growth three or more years earlier.

Many LGAs which experienced large and/or rapid growth were located on or near the boundaries of capital city SDs, where land is available for subdivision and housing development. In the Melbourne SD, the population in the outer-suburban LGA of Wyndham (C) increased by 8,900 (7.2%) in the 12 months to June 2008, which was both the largest and fastest increase of all Victorian LGAs. Strong growth was also experienced in Casey (C) (up 8,000 people or 3.5%) and Melton (S) (6,000 people or 7.0%).

The LGAs of Wanneroo (C) and Swan (C), on the northern and north-eastern outskirts of the Perth SD recorded strong growth, increasing by 8,600 and 4,300 people respectively. Wanneroo (C) also had the second-highest growth rate (6.8%) of all outer-suburban LGAs in the Perth SD, behind Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S) (7.6%) in the south-east.

In the Brisbane SD, rapid growth continued in the outer-suburban SLAs of Wakerley (19.1%) in the south-east and Griffin-Mango Hill (14.7%) in the Moreton Bay (R) LGA.

Three of the four LGAs with the largest population increases in NSW were outer-suburban Blacktown (C) (up 5,300 people), Baulkham Hills (A) (3,300) and Liverpool (C) (3,200).

Outer-suburban areas in the smaller capital city SDs also experienced some of the strongest growth in their states or territories. The Adelaide LGAs of Salisbury (C) and Playford (C) recorded the two largest population increases of all LGAs in South Australia in 2007-08, increasing by 2,400 and 2,000 people respectively. On the outskirts of the Darwin SD, the population in Palmerston (C) increased by 1,500 (5.5%) and in Litchfield (S) by 890 (5.1%). In the Greater Hobart SD, the outer LGA of Kingborough (M) increased by 630 people, the largest increase in Tasmania; and in the Canberra SD, the outer suburban SLAs of Harrison and Gungahlin had large and rapid growth, increasing in population by 1,500 (73.2%) and 500 (13.6%) respectively.

Urban infill is the development of a site within an already-developed area, either by building housing on land that was previously vacant or used for non-residential purposes, or by replacing low-density housing with higher-density dwellings. Infill development is becoming more common on transport corridors, near commercial hubs and in suburbs where there are older houses on large blocks of land.

Areas where urban infill contributed to large or rapid population increases in 2007-08 were Parramatta (C) in western Sydney, where the population increased by 4,000, and the Canberra SLA of Bruce, where the population grew by 20.6%.

Outside of capital city SDs, the largest population growth generally occurred along the Australian coast in 2007-08. Several LGAs on Queensland's seaboard had large population increases such as the Gold Coast (C) (up 13,200 people) and Sunshine Coast (R) (8,700) in south-east Queensland and Cairns (R) (6,000) and Townsville (C) (5,100) further north.

Seaside Tweed (A), in the north-eastern corner of NSW had the largest population growth in the state outside of the Sydney SD, increasing by 2,200.

Many coastal LGAs were also among the fastest-growing in Australia. Rapid population growth occurred in 2007-08 in the Western Australian LGAs of Mandurah (C) (5.1%) and Busselton (S) (4.6%). In South Australia, the fastest-growing of all LGAs was Victor Harbor (C) (3.5%), located on the south coast.

Some LGAs in inland areas outside of capital city SDs also experienced strong growth in the 12 months to June 2008. Ballarat (C), east of Melbourne, recorded the largest increase of all inland LGAs (up 1,800 people). Also in Victoria, Greater Bendigo (C) grew significantly, increasing by 1,600 people. In Queensland, Toowoomba (R) and the neighbouring Lockyer Valley (R) had large increases in population (up 1,700 and 1,100 people respectively).

As the population of a locality ages and households move through the life cycle, well-established areas can decline in population. In 2007-08, the three largest metropolitan population declines in Australia were in long-established inner-suburban LGAs within the Sydney SD. Ashfield (A) decreased by 290 people, closely followed by Manly (A) (270) and Lane Cove (A) (220).

The fastest declines in population (excluding LGAs with populations less than 2,000 as at June 2007) occurred in Paroo (S), located in rural Queensland, where population declined by 3.0% between June 2007 and June 2008, followed by the inland NSW LGAs of Hay (A) (2.2%) and Gwydir (A) (2.0%).

As at June 2008, 68.6% of the population resided in Australia's major cities, as defined in the Remoteness Structure of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0). In comparison, just 2.3% lived in remote or very remote Australia. Major cities were the fastest-growing remoteness areas (RAs) in Australia (1.8%) in the 12 months to June 2008. The remaining RAs grew at rates slower than the Australian average (1.7%), with remote Australia growing at the slowest rate (0.8%).

The Australian Capital Territory had the greatest proportion of its population living in the major cities RA (99.9%) while Tasmania had the highest percentage (64.7%) living in inner regional Australia, which includes Hobart. The Northern Territory had the highest proportions of its population living in outer regional Australia (55.4%), which includes Darwin, as well as remote (21.7%) and very remote (22.9%) Australia.

In 2007-08, major cities were the fastest-growing RAs in Victoria (1.9%), New South Wales (1.3%) and the Australian Capital Territory (1.3%) while inner regional areas were the fastest-growing in Western Australia (4.7%) and South Australia (1.8%). Outer regional RAs experienced the fastest growth in the Northern Territory (2.8%) and Queensland (2.6%) while remote areas were the fastest-growing (1.4%) in Tasmania.

ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION BY REMOTENESS STRUCTURE(a)

ERP AT 30 JUNE

CHANGE

2003

2007r

2008p

2003-2008p(b)

2007r-2008p

no.

no.

no.

%

no.

%

New South Wales

Major Cities of Australia

4 834 900

5 018 727

5 083 657

1.0

64 930

1.3

Inner Regional Australia

1 351 380

1 403 698

1 417 667

1.0

13 969

1.0

Outer Regional Australia

445 715

444 916

445 666

-

750

0.2

Remote Australia

35 661

33 102

32 701

-1.7

-401

-1.2

Very Remote Australia

4 921

4 499

4 481

-1.9

-18

-0.4

Total

6 672 577

6 904 942

6 984 172

0.9

79 230

1.1

Victoria

Major Cities of Australia

3 667 868

3 911 326

3 986 853

1.7

75 527

1.9

Inner Regional Australia

1 003 919

1 052 316

1 067 290

1.2

14 974

1.4

Outer Regional Australia

246 688

252 942

254 957

0.7

2 015

0.8

Remote Australia

5 010

4 726

4 723

-1.2

-3

-0.1

Total

4 923 485

5 221 310

5 313 823

1.5

92 513

1.8

Queensland

Major Cities of Australia

2 265 747

2 504 954

2 565 016

2.5

60 062

2.4

Inner Regional Australia

826 390

919 738

940 158

2.6

20 420

2.2

Outer Regional Australia

581 677

636 431

653 088

2.3

16 657

2.6

Remote Australia

84 632

84 974

85 565

0.2

591

0.7

Very Remote Australia

50 768

49 884

50 088

-0.3

204

0.4

Total

3 809 214

4 195 981

4 293 915

2.4

97 934

2.3

South Australia

Major Cities of Australia

1 114 258

1 152 781

1 165 736

0.9

12 955

1.1

Inner Regional Australia

178 857

191 752

195 294

1.8

3 542

1.8

Outer Regional Australia

178 921

181 885

182 624

0.4

739

0.4

Remote Australia

44 403

45 455

45 795

0.6

340

0.7

Very Remote Australia

14 839

13 921

13 912

-1.3

-9

-0.1

Total

1 531 278

1 585 794

1 603 361

0.9

17 567

1.1

Western Australia

Major Cities of Australia

1 395 045

1 506 870

1 546 617

2.1

39 747

2.6

Inner Regional Australia

231 076

269 602

282 162

4.1

12 560

4.7

Outer Regional Australia

188 272

194 865

198 648

1.1

3 783

1.9

Remote Australia

92 611

94 590

95 676

0.7

1 086

1.1

Very Remote Australia

46 066

47 040

48 094

0.9

1 054

2.2

Total

1 953 070

2 112 967

2 171 197

2.1

58 230

2.8

Tasmania

Inner Regional Australia

308 968

319 248

321 913

0.8

2 665

0.8

Outer Regional Australia

158 566

163 695

165 246

0.8

1 551

0.9

Remote Australia

7 504

7 645

7 749

0.6

104

1.4

Very Remote Australia

2 608

2 616

2 621

0.1

5

0.2

Total

477 646

493 204

497 529

0.8

4 325

0.9

Northern Territory

Outer Regional Australia

108 360

118 379

121 688

2.3

3 309

2.8

Remote Australia

45 163

46 998

47 691

1.1

693

1.5

Very Remote Australia

46 523

49 427

50 439

1.6

1 012

2.0

Total

200 046

214 804

219 818

1.9

5 014

2.3

Australian Capital Territory

Major Cities of Australia

325 078

340 561

345 057

1.2

4 496

1.3

Inner Regional Australia

583

493

494

-3.3

1

0.2

Total

325 661

341 054

345 551

1.2

4 497

1.3

Australia(c)

Major Cities of Australia

13 602 896

14 435 219

14 692 936

1.6

257 717

1.8

Inner Regional Australia

3 901 650

4 157 236

4 225 368

1.6

68 132

1.6

Outer Regional Australia

1 908 199

1 993 113

2 021 917

1.2

28 804

1.4

Remote Australia

314 984

317 490

319 900

0.3

2 410

0.8

Very Remote Australia

167 706

169 394

171 660

0.5

2 266

1.3

Total

19 895 435

21 072 452

21 431 781

1.5

359 329

1.7

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

(a) See paragraphs 20 to 22 and paragraph 28 of the Explanatory Notes.

Population density varies greatly across Australia, ranging from very low in remote areas to very high in inner-city areas. Australia's population density at June 2008 was 2.8 people per square kilometre. Among the states and territories, the ACT had the highest population density at 147 people per square kilometre, followed by Victoria with 23, NSW with 9 and Tasmania with 7. The remaining states and territories all had population densities below the Australian average, with the Northern Territory having the lowest at just 0.2 people per square kilometre.

Population density at June 2008 was highest in capital city SDs, particularly the Sydney SD. Five of the top ten most densely-populated SLAs were located in the Sydney SD, including Sydney (C) - East, which had the highest population density in Australia (8,400 people per square kilometre), the neighbouring Sydney (C) - West (7,500) and Waverley (A) (7,200), which is located just east of the Sydney (C) LGA and contains the beach-side suburbs of Coogee, Bronte and Bondi.

Within the Melbourne SD, the SLAs with the greatest population densities were Melbourne (C) - Inner (7,300 people per square kilometre) and nearby Port Phillip (C) - St Kilda (6,200). In the Brisbane SD, New Farm (5,700) and Kangaroo Point (5,600) had the highest population densities.

At the other end of the scale, there were over 250 SLAs in Australia which had population densities of less than one person per square kilometre at June 2008, close to one-third of which were located in Western Australia.

The centre of population is one way in which the spatial distribution of Australia's population can be described. This point marks the average latitude and longitude around which the population is distributed.

At June 2008, Australia's centre of population was located around 50 kilometres east of the town of Ivanhoe in the western NSW LGA of Central Darling (A). This reflects the concentration of people in south-eastern Australia, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. Since June 2003, the centre of population in Australia has moved approximately 11 kilometres north-west as a result of the relatively large population growth occurring in northern NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.